LAS VEGAS, Jan. 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- At CES 2018, Sensoria® Health and Optima Molliter will announce a partnership to create the first smart diabetic footwear product that will monitor a patient's compliance to the clinician’s prescribed mechanical offloading protocol. The smart device, Motus Smart powered by Sensoria® Health, will combine pressure sensors and the Sensoria® Core technologies together with the clinically tested Optima Molliter Offloading System.
One of the most dangerous and expensive complications of diabetes is represented by diabetic foot wounds, which will occur in up to one third of people with diabetes. In the US, direct costs associated with complications to diabetic limbs exceed the five most expensive cancers.
According to the World Health Organization, over 422 million people suffer from diabetes. In many countries, including the USA, diabetes is an emergency of epidemic proportions, and diabetic foot complications are one of the most painful effects: every 30 seconds, a limb is lost due to diabetes.
“Unfortunately, we know that diabetic foot ulceration, if not clinically controlled and managed, can lead to infection, amputation, and in some cases, death of the patient1,” says Dr. David G. Armstrong, DPM, MD, PhD, Professor of Surgery at the University of Southern California (USC). “There is a huge need for new technology that addresses diabetic foot ulceration and provides interventions before amputation becomes medically necessary. There has never been a greater need for the merger of next-gen consumer electronics and medical devices. This is enormously exciting2.”
An important variable for the success of offloading therapy is represented by the patient's "adherence to care," and his actual use of the prescribed footwear. Patients used to be constricted into a full contact cast, and some footwear products are now equipped with a non-removable system to guarantee their use, but both these options are not easily tolerated by patients, and not applicable in the event of an infected wound3. Motus Smart, which will use Sensoria® Core and pressure sensors to monitor compliance, is a viable alternative to a non-removable cam boot4. The Sensoria® sensors will work with a text messaging system and a web dashboard to inform patients, caregivers and clinicians of non-compliant patients allowing for easy intervention.
“Recording a patient’s compliance and usage patterns will reduce risk of amputations and provide objective data to the treating physician or hospital center that manages the patient5,” says Franco Salvatelli, Research and Development Manager at Optima Molliter. “By giving information on the usage patterns, deambulatory activity and concentration of the patient's orthotic pressures, we will provide additional evidence to a patient’s adherence to the mechanical offloading treatment.”
“Offloading is essential to diabetic foot ulcer healing, according to podiatry consensus guidelines,” says Davide Vigano, Co-Founder and CEO of Sensoria® Health. “Motus Smart will significantly improve the lives of people that suffer from diabetic foot complications. With Sensoria’s technology, caregivers and clinicians will have access to multitudes of patient data, allowing them to track compliance and intervene before amputation becomes unavoidable.”
Sensoria® Health and Optima Molliter will exhibit at CES 2018 in Las Vegas in the Fitness & Technology Marketplace, Tech West, Sands Expo Level 2, booth #44334. For more information on Sensoria Health, please visit http://sensoriahealth.com/, and for more information on Optima Molliter, visit http://www.molliter.com/en/.
About Optima Molliter
Headquartered in Italy, Optima Molliter, designs, manufactures and distributes in 22 Countries around the World, diabetic walkers for mechanical off-loading of foot injuries (diabetic, ischemic, traumatic or post-surgical) and footwear for Prevention (MAC1), Rehabilitation (MAC2-3) and the Daily activity shoes (YDA). Our mission is helping people move through their world a little bit better!
About Sensoria® Health Inc.
Our vision is The Garment is The Computer®. Sensoria’s proprietary sensor infused smart garments, Sensoria® Core microelectronics and cloud system enable smart footwear and clothing products to convert data into actionable information for health and fitness users in real-time. Sensoria develops and markets biometric sensing footwear technologies for consumers and, in the near future, patient activity monitoring. Through textile and pressure sensors inserted in a sock or a shoe, Sensoria powered IoMe (Internet of Me) wearables will collect data on physical activity of gait-impaired patients to improve their lives. For further information on Sensoria in healthcare, please visit: http://sensoriahealth.com/
PR contact
Nicole Manigault
Uproar PR for Sensoria® Health
nmanigault@uproarpr.com
(312) 878-4575 x241
__________________________________
1 Diabetic Foot Ulcers and Their Recurrence
2 David G. Armstrong, D.P.M., M.D., Ph.D., Andrew J.M. Boulton, M.D., and Sicco A. Bus, Ph.D.N Engl J Med 2017; 376:2367-2375 June 15, 2017 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMra1615439.
3 Alberto Piaggesi MD et Al, Comparison of Removable and Irremovable Walking Boot to Total Contact Casting in Offloading the Neuropathic Diabetic Foot Ulceration. Foot & Ankle International April 15, 2016, DOI: 10.1177/1071100716643429
4 Real-Time Smart Textile-Based System to Monitor Pressure Offloading of Diabetic Foot Ulcers
5 Alberto Piaggesi MD et Al, An Off-the-Shelf Instant Contact Casting Device for the Management of Diabetic Foot Ulcers. Diabetes Care 2007 Mar; 30(3): 586-590.